Paintball
by AnonymousSG1
Summary: SG1 have been in contact with their allies and Ba'al as leader of the remaining system lords. Nothing is happening in the Milky Way and they need something to pass the time.
1. Chapter 1

It was just another Saturday at the SGC and Brigadier General Jack O'Neill had given up yet another fishing trip. Things had been quiet since the destruction of the replicators and the overthrow of the system lords, and the team were taking some time to get life back to normal, as normal as it ever gets, that is.

The leader had finally given in to Daniel's request for a bigger office so that he could retrieve the remainder of his belongings from storage and he, Sam and Teal'c were helping the doctor to unpack his prized possessions as the airmen weren't to be trusted with such a delicate task. Besides, it had been a while since they'd had anything to do.

"Wow, I really have a lot of stuff, don't I?" Daniel gave a shocked look at the increasing pile of boxes as Teal'c entered carrying two more. "Indeed" he remarked as the boxes slid from the top of a pile of papers. The alarm sounded and a familiar voice echoed.

Somehow O'Neill had made it to the front of the group as they entered the control room and ran up the stairs jumping the last two. Meanwhile, Daniel had finished putting his journals from '79 in chronological order and turned to leave, then appeared to have a thought. He closed his eyes as if in concentration. A bright light filled the control room and as Carter and Teal'c emerged behind O'Neill, Daniel appeared fully clothed near the BLUs. A technician bumped into him as she turned round; she skittered out of the room, embarrassed at not seeing him in her path.

O'Neill turned his head toward Daniel distractedly; "Show off!" he muttered under his breath. Carter sighed, an undignified expression on her face. "Well, at least he's not naked!"

Teal'c looked toward Carter, his eyebrow raised and a smug grin on his face (the way only Teal'c can) "Indeed."

They all turned to face the gate as O'Neill followed SOP and closed the iris. A holographic projection of Ba'al appeared, larger than life, hovering above the ramp. Daniel punched the air victoriously, "Yes!"

Having gotten used to Daniel's latest obsession of what appears to be half-ascendance followed by reappearance in some unlikely places, usually at least half naked; none of the former team took notice, with the exception of Teal'c, who raised his other eyebrow and broadened his grin.

"I gotta get me one of them!" O'Neill exclaimed, he turned to the others "Can we get one?"

He addressed Ba'al "Any chance of us getting one of those?" Ba'al looked at the former leader of SG1 sideways.

"I thought not. So! What's up? Heard from old 'Nubi yet? Made new plans for galactic domination, come to gloat? Oh, no, sorry, that's right; we kicked 'your' ass!"

Ba'al raised his eyebrows "I was hoping he may have ended your pathetic existence but I see that I must still endure your futile remarks. It has been too quiet. Things have been increasingly uncomfortable in my domain, amongst the remaining system lords in particular."

"Well, maybe we ought to have a little get together?"

"What did you have in mind?"

Well, ya know, throw a few sausages on the Bar-B, play a little hockey, catch a few episodes of the Simpsons.."

"Oh, and beer, you can't get together without some beer!" Daniel interjected. It was O'Neill's turn to raise his eyebrows.

"I find it intriguing that you could think of such things at a time like this. And how do you propose we do this?" Again, his eyebrows are raised.

"Perhaps something of this nature could help to ease relations between our peoples?" Teal'c addressed O'Neill, ignoring the awkwardly fidgeting hologram.

Carter spoke up. "You know, we could do with something to pass the time; no offence Daniel, but you appearing all over the base half naked is only entertaining for so long".

Daniel looked disheartened, almost hurt. "Yeah, I guess."

"I too feel weary." Teal'c interjected.

"Yes, well, I'm sure you can sort something out. I shall return in three days to see what you propose. His hologram phased like a ripple in a pond and disappeared. The gate closed and the iris opened.

"What about paintball?" Daniel suggested. "We could always modify the intars from P89-534"

Jack looked distracted "Yeah, good idea. You just do that." He turned and walked past Daniel. Turning back, he tapped him on the shoulder, "You've got three days." He left, smiling.

Daniel disappeared in a flash of light, his clothes crumpling to a pile on the floor. Carter smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

Daniel rubbernecked past yet another door, he'd been searching for Teal'c for quite some time now. As he turned his head, Carter caught his eye. He turned, as he walked, asking if she'd seen the former servant of the Apophis and on doing so, tripped. Luckily, the aforementioned Jaffa happened to step around the door and caught the uncoordinated doctor.

"Ah, Teal'c!" Daniel exclaimed as he looked up. "I was just looking for you…" Teal'c's trademark eyebrow rose.

"It would appear that you have found me Daniel Jackson"

"Ah, yes, I, uh, was wondering if you could get in touch with the rebel Jaffa. I need to know if they would like to join the game."

"I have already contacted the High Council and they have just informed me of their decision. They will indeed be joining us and await the arrival of their Intars."

"Good, uhm, will you…?"

"I will remain with SG-1"

"Great, thanks, that's great! Uhm, I need to let Jack know"

Just at that moment, there was a bright flash and Daniel was gone.

"Unscheduled off world activation!" Walter turned to see O'Neill exiting his office. "It's Ba'al sir." O'Neill looked up to see the familiar hologram shudder into existence above the ramp.

"What do you propose?"

"We were thinking that some war games would be a nice 'friendly' suggestion. You see, we have these guns, which shoot coloured balls of paint.."

"Of this I am aware.. Paintball, I believe that this is the game to which you refer… Very unrealistic, I much prefer to see my enemy die. Although, it did make for rather an amusing past-time during my stay on your feeble little planet."

"Yes, well." O'Neill was a little annoyed at being cut off. "We are working on some intars as we speak, making the game a little more 'interesting'. Are you familiar with a planet called Vis-Uban?"

"I am."

"Right, well, we meet there in five days. The Nox will contact you with the details."

Later that day, the designated team from Atlantis arrived. Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla and McKay had bugged Weir from the second that the transmission had arrived in the Pegasus galaxy. The fact that there was an in-person briefing due at the SGC helped. As they stood on the ramp, looking up at the control room, a broad grin broke out on Sheppard's face.

"Right, I should, uh.." McKay never finished his sentences and left the remainder unfinished as he left the room. He would be assisting Carter with the Intars, while the others attended the de-briefing.

Back in the labs, Carter was working on the modification to the Intars. She had discovered that by changing the colour of the power crystal and modifying the base frequencies to rotate between the core frequencies of the humanoids taking part in the games; she could get each intar to freeze the target in a clear crystalline form with a subtle hint of the colour of the weapons power crystal. She was using an apple for testing and was just tweaking the frequency output when McKay stormed in.

"Ahh, you see!" he exclaimed looking at the apple. "I knew you couldn't do it without me!"

Carter, having not noticed McKay until he had spoken up, jumped. Sparks flew from the intar and McKay was frozen in a lime coloured crystal, a shocked expression on his face.

"Oh." Carter looked at McKay, a slight grin appearing as she held back a laugh. She radioed up to the Asgard cruiser overhead. "Uh, a little help please"

"I was about to query your last action Colonel Carter." Heimdall's voice echoed around the room. "I will make the necessary calculations". Carter hit the com, "Medical team to my lab."


	3. Chapter 3

After the briefing, Sheppard ran down to the labs to see what was keeping McKay; he had agreed to meet the team to discuss tactics over lunch, and and John knew how much he loved his food. Besides, they were serving his favorite today. As he approached Carter's lab, he saw the white coats leaving and picked up the pace to see what had happened. As he rounded the doorway, he heard McKay's familiar whining and knew that all must be well.

"You could have killed me!" McKay squeaked in a pitch that could upset dogs for miles around.

"McKay, you're overreacting, as usual! And if you'd bothered to take any notice of the warnings by the door..."

Sheppard backed up, craning to read the sign outside "Knock and wait when red light flashes." He had to be fair, the sign was clear and the light was flashing. Seeking to annoy Rodney further he knocked, getting the attention of the labs occupants. McKay glared at him, red faced and out of breath. Sam smiled, chalk one up for the military, not that this was a competition but it was fun; and it annoyed Rodney.

Carter joined them en-route to the mess hall. She wouldn't be sitting with them but also didn't want to miss out on any blue jello.

"So, any thoughts on which colour your team is going to be?" She enquired.

"As a matter of fact, yes!" John replied, a smirk on his face. Sam looked at him, eyebrows raised. McKay, who was following with his nose in his tablet, almost walked into them as they stopped.

"So?" She pressed

"Blue. We're going with blue. So it will match your eyes when we kick your butt!" John retorted in a matter of fact tone.

Rodney interjected "Actually it's because our gate is blue, signifying the leap in technology between the analogue Milky Way system and... Hey! Kirk!" he piped up, his face suddenly red again as he noticed his team leaders flirtatious behaviour. "Back off! You're not even her type..." He raised his chin and puffed out his chest in a display of what he hoped was dominance.

"Uh.." Carter looked indignified, her piercing blue eyes cutting into McKay as he stalled.

His eyes met with hers and it took him back. It wasn't one of his favourite experiences on Atlantis but the image stuck with him. Her wet hair clung to her neck as she stood up in the water; her hands following the precise parallel lines of her highlights. Her collarbone visible beneath her soft, pink skin. His eyes followed and met her hands as they came back up, her long slender fingers caressing... McKay's soft, schoolboy expression turned to one of horror as he identified the object in her hand. A lemon.


End file.
